Research Engineer

Note: This is a 1 year fixed term position. This position has been deemed critical by the School of Engineering Dean's Office and is exempt from the hiring freeze.

The School of Engineering
Stanford Engineering has been at the forefront of innovation for nearly a century, creating pivotal technologies that have transformed the worlds of information technology, communications, health care, energy, business and beyond. Our faculty and students are creative risk-takers who pursue excellence across a breadth of disciplines. Our alumni include some of the world's most successful leaders in technology and business. Our staff are critical to enabling Stanford Engineering to accomplish its mission: seeking solutions to some of the world's most urgent challenges and educating leaders who will make the world a better place through the power of engineering principles, techniques and systems.

The research initiative at Stanford AI Lab is dedicated to quantifying cybersecurity AI agent capabilities, leveraging metrics to build better agents, and leveraging agents to build better evaluations. Our prior work includes our recently released BountyBench and Cybench, which has made significant real-world impact. Cybench has been leveraged by the UK AISI for joint pre-deployment tests on Claude 3.5 Sonnet and OpenAI o1, featured in system cards by Anthropic (Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Claude 4, and Claude 4.1 Opus) and Amazon (Nova Premier), incorporated into the xAI Risk Management Framework, used as the only benchmark for OWASP's LLM Exploit Generation Whitepaper, rated the 10th highest at ICLR out of 11,672 submissions, won first prize in the SafeBench competition, and leveraged by the Japan AISI and the Republic of Korea AISI.

As part of this effort, we are seeking an exceptional Research Engineer who is interested in playing a central role in designing and implementing evaluations to rigorously quantify cybersecurity agent capabilities. In addition to building evaluations, the role involves advancing the agents themselves-integrating powerful tools, fine-tuning large models, exploring multi-agent architectures, and developing environments with realistic rewards that enable reinforcement learning to improve agent capabilities across various domains.

In this role, you will:

• Design and develop complex and specialized equipment, instruments, or systems; coordinate detailed phases of work related to responsibility for part of a major project or for an entire project of moderate scope.
• Develop technical and methodological solutions to complex engineering/scientific problems requiring independent analytical thinking and advanced knowledge.
• Develop creative new or improved equipment, materials, technologies, processes, methods, or software important to the advancement of the field.
• Contribute technical expertise, and perform basic research and development in support of programs/projects; act as advisor/consultant in area of specialty.
• Contribute to portions of published articles or presentations; prepare and write reports; draft and prepare scientific papers.
• Provide technical direction to other research staff, engineering associates, technicians, and/or students, as needed.

Education & Experience (Required):

• Bachelor's degree and three years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities (Required):

• Thorough knowledge of the principles of engineering and related natural sciences.
• Demonstrated project management experience.

Education & Experience (Desired):

• Prior research or engineering experience in AI/ML, particularly with large language models, reinforcement learning, or AI agents
• Experience designing or conducting evaluations of AI systems
• Ability to research, evaluate, architect, and deploy new tools, frameworks, and patterns to build scalable data platforms
• Background in cybersecurity, vulnerability research, or related domains
• Familiarity with training, fine-tuning, and quantization of LLMs or multimodal models using common techniques and frameworks

Working Conditions:

• May be exposed to high voltage electricity, radiation or electromagnetic fields, lasers, noise > 80dB TWA, Allergens/Biohazards/Chemicals /Asbestos, confined spaces, working at heights 10 feet, temperature extremes, heavy metals, unusual work hours or routine overtime and/or inclement weather.
• May require travel.

Physical Requirements:

• Frequently grasp lightly/fine manipulation, perform desk-based computer tasks, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
• Occasionally stand/walk, sit, twist/bend/stoop/squat, grasp forcefully.
• Rarely kneel/crawl, climb (ladders, scaffolds, or other), reach/work above shoulders, use a telephone, writing by hand, sort/file paperwork or parts, operate foot and/or hand controls, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh >40 pounds.

Work Standards:

• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
• Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University's Administrative Guide, ;/li>

Pay Range:
The expected pay range for this position is $127,211 to $154,222 per annum.

Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs.

At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package. The Cardinal at Work website ( provides detailed information on Stanford's extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees. Specifics about the rewards package for this position may be discussed during the hiring process.

Why Stanford is for you:
Imagine a world without search engines or social platforms. Consider lives saved through first-ever organ transplants and research to cure illnesses. Stanford University has revolutionized the way we live and enrich the world. Supporting this mission is our diverse and dedicated 17,000 staff. We seek talent driven to impact the future of our legacy. Our culture and unique perks empower you with:

• Freedom to grow. We offer career development programs, tuition reimbursement, or audit a course. Join a TedTalk, film screening, or listen to a renowned author or global leader speak.
• A caring culture. We provide superb retirement plans, generous time-off, and family care resources.
• A healthier you. Climb our rock wall, or choose from hundreds of health or fitness classes at our world-class exercise facilities. We also provide excellent health care benefits.
• Discovery and fun. Stroll through historic sculptures, trails, and museums.
• Enviable resources. Enjoy free commuter programs, ridesharing incentives, discounts and more!

How to Apply:
We invite you to apply for this position by clicking on the "Apply for Job" button. To be considered, please submit a cover letter and rsum along with your online application. The cover letter should briefly describe why you believe you are a good fit for this position.

The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.

Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact Stanford University Human Resources by submitting a contact form.

Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.